Heavy reliance on the "to be" verbs
(mostly "is" and "are," but also "am,"
"was," "were," "be," "being,"
"been," and the infinitive form "to be" itself),
makes your writing style deadly. Even though ads for upcoming
movies would have you believe that these verbs signify power
("Sylvester
Stallone IS Warren McWuss, Mall Security!"), they
actually drain your writing of all life, as if you seek only to
define all your terms and ideas (this "is" this; that
"is" that; it "is" important "to be"
aware that things "are" "to be" done as they
"were" intended "to be" blah blah).

You will see heavy reliance on "to be"
verbs in so-called official writing: government documents ("You
are expected to pay for foul-ups that were committed"), scientific
write-ups ("Twenty monkeys were beaten on the head with lead
pipes so that the effects of trauma could be tested"), and
any other bureaucratic organization wishing to avoid responsibility
for its own actions and demands. Such writing provides no mention
of anyone we can blame for the actions that seem to take place
in nowhere-land--convenient if you ought to bear the blame, but
pretty cheesy tactics. In your writing, you want verbs that show
the subject of the sentence doing something.

Transforming this kind of "passive voice"
into "active voice" usually works out fairly easily.
Just ask yourself, as you read the sentence containing one or
more of the offensive verbs, who is responsible here? Thus,

The meeting was called to
order by the Grand Exalted Poobah

becomes

The Grand Exalted Poobah called
the meeting to order.

Here is an historical example of cheesy writing
in an FBI memo:

M E M O R A N D U M

FROM: Supervisor

Intelligence Division

Unit 2

TO: Regional Director Group 3

SUBJECT: The Supervision of the Activities
of both John and Yoko Lennon.

. . . . It has come to the further
attention of this office that John Ono Lennon, formerly of the
Beatles, and Yoko Ono, wife of John Lennon, have intentions of
remaining in this country seeking permanent residence therein.
This has been judged to be inadvisable and it was recommended
that all applications are to be denied.

Your office is to maintain constant
surveillance. . . .

These last two sentences could read:
"Richard Nixon has judged this undesirable and recommends
that you deny all their applications. Keep tapping their phone
calls. . . ." Anyway, you don't want your readers to think
that you are not saying something important, so get rid
of the reliance on the weak verbs.

Some "to be" verbs pose more difficult
problems and require that you rework the sentence more
extensively:

There are many foods that
are said to be bad for you

needs, perhaps, to read:

Many foods may cause health
problems.

But if you keep realizing that any sentence
can convey the same meaning more effectively, then no writing
already down on the page can back you into a corner.

Limber up your style skills by practicing
with the following paragraph. First identify and circle all "to
be" verbs. Then convert these weak verbs to more active
ones.

The Love Connection appears to be a
competition. The
three men who are in the opening segment of the show are competing
for Marcy, who is expected to pick one of them. But this is an
illusion in format on the part of the creators of the show. Actually,
Wayne was already chosen before the three videos were compiled
for our viewing. Why, then, is the show given the look of a competition
when the date is already over with? Perhaps it is because the
producers want to give the show the veneer of a good ol' American
democracy, in which a person is voted for by an audience who is
expected to be an authoritative and responsible public voice.
This audience participation is, of course, an arbitrary factor
thrown into what should be, if not a personal matter, at least
a matter of personal choices: dating and relationships. Nevertheless,
the democratic side of the show is a way to make The Love
Connection
seem to be noble and culturally acceptable; but it really is nothing
more than a justification for vicarious thrills, eavesdropping,
and mass busybodyism.

Here follow some suggestions for reworking the paragraph so as
to eliminate reliance on "to be" constructions. Alas,
one "be" remains; but remember: the verbs do not offend,
we just want to make writing more active and dynamic, and less
stagnant.

The Love Connection
turns dating into a competition. The three men who appear in
the opening segment of the show seem to compete for Marcy, whom
we expect to pick one of them. But this presentation in format
deludes us. Actually, Marcy has already chosen Wayne before
the compilation of the three videos for our viewing. Why, then,
have the producers of the show given it the look of a competition
when the date already took place? Perhaps the producers want
to give the show the veneer of a good ol' American democracy in
which an audience, supposedly serving as an authoritative and
responsible public voice, votes for whom they consider the best
candidate. The show, then, inserts the arbitrary factor of audience
participation into what should be, if not a personal matter, at
least a matter of personal choices: dating and relationships.
Nevertheless, the democratic side of the show makes The Love
Connection seem noble and culturally acceptable; but it really
does nothing more than justify vicarious thrills, eavesdropping,
and mass busybodyism.